Happy Birthday, Niagara Symphony Orchestra
Its first public appearance was 70 years ago next week
There have always been people in St. Catharines intent on developing local cultural institutions – groups like the Mechanics Institute (an early public library), the Women’s Literary Club, and the choirs associated with local churches. Starting in the 1870s the Grand Opera House provided cultural offerings from travelling groups to supplement the purely local efforts. A steady round of operatic works, theatre and lectures were available there.
The offerings for people interested in symphonic music were sparse for a long time. Early in the 20th century there were rare visits from touring orchestras – the Edmund Strauss Orchestra from Vienna came in 1900, the Toronto Symphony in 1912 and 1912 – but symphonic music did not get a serious local component until the late 1920s, with the St. Catharines Philharmonic Orchestra, active from 1927 to 1933. But there it ended.
Finally, in January 1948 a group of local music lovers founded the St. Catharines Civic Symphony, an orchestra made up of professional musicians and eager amateurs, under the direction of a proven music director, Jan Wolanek of Buffalo.
Wolanek, born in Poland and resident of North America since 1924, had first been the conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he left in 1938 to establish the Buffalo Civic Orchestra. Later he also conducted two other Western New York orchestras, in Batavia and Jamestown.
Early in 1948 Wolanek had his first rehearsal with St. Catharines’ fledgling orchestra. Years later he described the results this way: “It was the most ungodly sound you ever heard in your life.” Not withstanding that, this new 80-member orchestra persevered and honed their skills before giving their very first public concert on May 30, 1948 — 70 years ago next Wednesday.
Following that, efforts continued to raise the performance level of the orchestra, to recruit new members, and to build a large local audience for their efforts. The Symphony improvised rehearsal space in places like Memorial School and the Thompson Products cafeteria, with actual concerts being held in a local movie theatre, the Palace (today the Town Cinemas, on St. Paul just east of Carlisle).
By the time that conductor Wolanek moved on in 1956 the orchestra was well established. Its concerts continued at the Palace until they were moved to the Brock campus in 1968. A decade later the St. Catharines Civic Symphony was renamed the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, to symbolize its commitment to serving more than just St. Catharines.
Then, in 2015, after spending almost 50 years out at Brock, the Orchestra moved back downtown when the city opened its new Performing Arts Centre on St. Paul Street. Since then it seems that the return to a central location downtown and the excitement of their new PAC home have led to notably increased audiences for the orchestra.
Our old photo this week shows the Civic Orchestra and Maestro Wolanek during a concert in the old Palace Theatre. Our “today” photo shows current conductor Bradley Thachuk and the Niagara Symphony on the Partridge Hall stage this March.